Forbidden City

May 2, 2011

We woke up to clear blue skies, proving it is untrue that you will “never see the sun” in Beijing. (However, it does appear to be true that the sun is often a little smudged around the edges. I decided to look on the bright side and view the smog as an additional layer of sunscreen.) After lounging in the lobby of the awesome Drum Tower Youth Hostel for a while, drinking coffee and checking our email, we set off down the street a couple of blocks so I could get my first scallion pancake for breakfast. Ash and Megan had discovered jianbing on their first day here (the day I spent in delayed transcontinental flight), and with all their raving, I was eager to experience this delicious street food. It did not disappoint! In fact, the food in China was generally so good that it deserves a whole separate blog entry… After breakfast, we decided to tackle the subway to get to the Forbidden City. Our hostel was a short walk to the nearest station, with the Forbidden City only a few stops away.

Entrance to our subway stop

We had our Beijing and China guidebooks to point out some of the “must-sees” of the Forbidden City, and the explanatory signs in Chinese and English were helpful for “what are we looking at?” moments, so we were perfectly happy to see the place without the help of an official tour. In fact, it was preferable. The place is magnificent and impressive, but also too big to see it all, and many of the doors and halls start to look the same after a little while. It was great to see it at our own pace, pausing when we wanted, speeding up when we wanted, and finally leaving when we wanted.

Forbidden City!

Ash gets in formation with some soldiers

Good luck door studs

Wall detail

Ceiling detail

Roof detail

Descriptive signs in Chinese and English

It was crowded but not unbearably so; we were also impressed with how pleasant everyone was about taking pictures. At most of the major photo op locations, people graciously took turns, snapping photos and getting out of each other’s way, waiting patiently for their opportunity. I have never seen such good-natured tourist cooperation in the U.S.!

Lots of people wanted to take their picture with us because we were American. Or because we are famous. Whichever.

When the crowds did reach the point of being a little tiring, we found that the areas that charged a little extra admission to see something special (~10 RMB, about $1.50) were noticeably quieter.

Pretty door

Dragon from 9-dragon screen

 

As has been true my entire life, I tire of site-seeing approximately one hour before anyone else does. Fortunately, Megan and Ashley encouraged me to buck up for a little bit longer and we were able to see several areas that were worth the wait (including some of the pay-extra areas; if I did this again I would visit those areas first). Although there were places to buy snacks and drink, we eventually hit the point where we needed serious refreshment, so after about 4 hours in the Forbidden City, we left.

After being partially revived by beer and noodles in a nearby restaurant, we decided we were tired enough to deserve a taxi back to our neighborhood. We also decided we deserved foot massages. We had previously seen a cute massage parlor along what became our favorite street in Beijing, so we were dropped nearby. The massage parlor had a perfect little room for our trio: three chairs side-by-side. They had an extensive menu, but we opted for the basic 30 minute foot massage. Until several minutes into it, of course, when your defenses are down and they offer you more services… In this case, we ended up with a foot massage and a pedicure. The foot massage was powerful – both pleasant and painful. In my experience with massages, when you wince and pull away, the masseuse generally checks that you are okay and usually lightens the pressure. Apparently in China, wincing and pulling away are cues to push harder. It was tolerable though, and my feet did feel better at the end. The massage was ended by cupping our feet, which was also quite…intense. The whole experience was one of relaxation, plus some laughing, plus some laughing so we didn’t cry. Also, the massage parlor had beer!

So cheap! So many options!

Three chairs side-by-side

 

As we finished our day at a rooftop bar, enjoying more beer and delicious food, Megan and Ashley’s cell phones rang nearly simultaneously. A minute into their conversations, I could tell something serious was happening – without a Chinese cell phone so no one could call me, I was left whispering “What? What?!?”  at them for a moment or two. As it turned out, their parents had woken to the morning news in America and immediately called to let us know the big news. And that is how we found out that Osama bin Laden was dead.

The Great Wall of China

May 1, 2011

May 1^st is a big labor holiday in China. Many people have the day off, or even several days in a row or the week off. Chinese tourists crowd the roadways and all the major tourist sites. Travel can be difficult and everything is crowded but there is also a festive feeling in the air, as it seems all of China comes out to play. The staff at our hostel (the wonderful Drum Tower Youth Hostel) suggested we visit the Great Wall on May Day – it would be crowded, but perhaps less crowded than some of the other tourist sites like the Forbidden City. We signed up for a tour leaving at 8am Sunday morning that would take us to a less touristy section of the Wall: the bus, admission to the Wall, and lunch were all included in the price.

Our bus was filled with foreign tourists – many Europeans but also a couple of Americans we met in the lobby of our hostel the night before. It was a 2.5-3 hour drive to the Wall. I think it took longer than usual due to the holiday traffic. We went to a section of the Wall that was a little off the beaten trail. We were excited to be at 1) a less-crowded section, and 2) a section that included both reconstructed and unreconstructed sections of the Wall.

Our tour guide was thankfully pretty hands off. He gathered us up, told some of the history of the Wall, answered a few questions, and finished with the claim that it was the “greatest manmade structure of all time” or something like that. (Although I respectfully disagreed with the claim – much of the Wall isn’t even that old (while it was started a couple thousand years ago, some sections are only a few hundred years old), much of it is falling down, it wasn’t very tall, and it was also ineffective at keeping out invaders – I did manage to not say so out loud.) He then told us to walk as far as we wanted, and to be back in 3 hours.

Despite it not being the "greatest manmade structure of all time," the Wall was impressive and the views were amazing. It follows a natural ridgeline, so you have a panoramic view of everything.

It was disappointing there was still smog in the air, even though we were many miles from the city.

It was also disappointing there was smog in the air because it contributed to my first asthma attack in years. To be fair, I’m also not in hiking shape, and this was a strenuous hike. I’m not sure why I pictured an initial steep walk up a mountain but then for the Wall itself to be relatively flat… it wasn’t, of course. Since I have a history of asthma problems and China is infamously polluted, I had a brand-new albuterol inhaler. In my suitcase, in the room, back in Beijing. Once the shortness of breath transitioned from I’m-just-out-of-shape into the old familiar chest tightness that asthmatics know all too well, I knew I had to take it easy. I managed to stroll and take a few steps at a time to go quite a ways, but I had to let Ashley and Megan go on ahead, while I experienced the Great Wall of China like an old person. Or an asthmatic without an inhaler. Anyway, it was beautiful and amazing and it taught me to actually carry my first aid supplies with me, in case I needed first aid, you know.

After the hike, our group had a delicious lunch at a local restaurant before heading back to Beijing. We watched South Park cartoons on the bus TV the whole ride back.

On a reconstucted (and guardrailed) section

Unreconstructed section

Being in China makes us want to do kung fu

Getting to China Tests My Patience

Thursday, April 28, 2011

One week after the end of final exams of vet school year 2, and it was time to leave for China! I was pretty excited about my flight itinerary. Most of my friends had planned their trips to fly to Beijing from somewhere on the west coast. West coast city à Beijing = 12 hour flight. But first you have to get to the west coast! I get antsy and achy on any flight of more than a few hours, so I didn’t want to arrive in California or Washington already sick of air travel and dreading getting on another plane. I was thrilled to see flights directly from the east coast to Beijing that were only 1.5 hours longer than the west coast flights! So my itinerary was a 2 hour flight from Charlotte to JFK in New York on US Air, a layover of a several hours, then 13.5 hours to Beijing on Air China. I was to arrive in Beijing around 6pm local time on Friday, April 29^th. Megan and Ashley were both flying out of Seattle and would arrive in Beijing later that evening.

The weather had other plans for me. Horrible weather and killer tornadoes had been tracking along the Midwest and Deep South for several days and the storm system finally made it to the east coast on the day of my flight. My flight to JFK was delayed, delayed again, and then cancelled, since JFK is the worst airport ever and had no room to take our flight at this point. I accepted pretty quickly that I was not going to China that day. I was going to miss my flight from New York, and there was no way I could get to any other city in the US in time to depart that day. 

So I joined the throngs of people in line to rebook. I lucked out with the nicest US Air lady ever. Her name was Novlette. I really should write a letter to US Air commending and thanking her. She quickly figured out a new itinerary for me. I would leave Charlotte early the next morning, and then take a United flight from Chicago to Beijing. I would still get to Beijing a day late, but I would arrive closer to noon than 6pm. Novlette then called Air China to tell them I would be missing my flight, and to please un-check me in and release the booking so she could re-book my new flight. Air China said no. Understandably, they wanted to keep the money from my booking and wanted to book me on their flight the next night, so I would be arriving in Beijing a full 24 hours late. I was a little miffed that they didn’t want to cooperate in getting me to my destination as quickly as possible, but I did understand it from their perspective.

So fine, Novlette hangs up and proceeds to book me on an early morning flight to JFK (leaving lots of time for more delays before my evening flight out of NYC) and the Air China flight the following night. Except she can’t, because I wasn’t yet un-checked in for my first Air China flight. So she calls Air China back, and after an insane amount of time and exasperation, she determines that it is Air China’s policy to not change a booking until the first flight has actually been missed. Even though we both stood there at the counter, telling them I would not, under any circumstances, be on their flight out of New York in a couple of hours, they would not budge. We were supposed to call back in several hours, once the flight had officially been missed and in the air for 1 hour, and then I could be re-booked for the next day. By this time, I had already been at the counter with Novlette for over an hour. The atmosphere around the counter was more than a little unpleasant. It was hot, and the long line of stranded passengers was getting unruly. One woman kept trying to cut to the front of the line (not sure why she made repeated attempts, like she wouldn’t be recognized and stopped again) and the crowd was shouting and pushing. I had already texted Megan and Ashley about the change of plans and called my parents to come back to the airport to get me. I was not looking forward to hanging out for 3 more hours until we could call back. And then, wonderful Novlette told me to go home. She would call Air China at the designated time and then call me at home to let me know I had been officially rebooked. It made me a little nervous to walk away from the counter without everything being settled, but I trusted Novlette. My dad picked me up, I bought a bottle of wine on the way home, and then several hours later, wonderful Novlette called me to let me know everything had been taken care of. She was jealous of my wine.

Friday, April 29, 2011

I will never get through blogging my whole trip if I continue to write as much as I did for Day 1.

Flight to JFK delayed one hour to fix a broken door. Thank goodness for the long layover.

I hate JFK. Give me Atlanta or O’Hare any day over this.

Screaming baby in the waiting area for our flight. Baby screams and screams and screams. Please let baby be on a different flight.

Request an aisle seat and get it. Boarding flight, I see I’m in a bulkhead row. More legroom, but I kind of like having my bag of stuff right by my feet. Oh well. As my row comes in to view, I see screaming baby and exasperated mother are in the middle seat next to me. Ear plugs in. Take a Klonapin.

Baby screams for first couple hours of flight. Mother can easily get up with baby without me having to get up because she is a tiny Chinese lady and there is extra legroom in the bulkhead. Baby gets passed around by stewardesses and other passengers. Baby hates everyone and still screams.

Mother asks me to switch seats with her so she can get up more easily with the baby, even though she could already get up easily with the baby. How can I refuse? I’ve always wanted to be in the middle seat for a 13.5 hour flight.

Stewardess comes and installs a bassinet in my lap. Officially, it’s attached to the bulkhead. But since I am now in the middle seat, it’s also in my lap. There goes the extra legroom and ease of getting up from the bulkhead.

Screaming baby spends the rest of the flight screaming, with a small nap here and there to break up the monotony. Baby doesn’t use the bassinet in my lap but rather sleeps in sleeping mom’s arms. Looks kind of like a dangerous you-might-drop-your-baby situation, but I don’t want to disturb the peace.

Need to pee, but can’t get up b/c screaming baby and mother are finally asleep. And there’s a freaking bassinet in my lap. Fall asleep thinking about DVTs.

As the landing gear comes down, mother fumbles for an air bag and pukes on landing.

Worst flight ever.

Arrive at hostel. Rouse napping Megan and Ashley. Take me for my first Chinese beer. NOW.

Back from China - Epic Stories to Follow

The title pretty much sums it up, except some of the epic stories may have to be edited from their original format for blog viewing.

To tide you over, here is a picture of the Summer Palace's Marble Boat, which may or may not have sunk the imperial navy.